Oxford and Imperial College-linked Xayn has attracted capital from KDDI and others.

Xayn, a Germany-based creator of a private online browser and search tool based on research at University of Oxford and Imperial College London, has obtained €10m ($11.8m) in a series A round. Telecoms firm KDDI’s Open Innovation Fund, managed by VC firm Global Brain, led the round, which also featured venture capital firm Earlybird Venture Capital. Founded in 2017, Xayn has created an open-source framework for federated analytics and learning that forms the basis for a search engine, discovery feed and mobile browser that offers personalisation while respecting user privacy. Leif-Nissen Lundbæk, co-founder and chief executive of Xayn, said: “Finding information on the internet is one of the most important things we do online. And we proved with Xayn that you can have it all: great results through personalisation, privacy by design through advanced technology, and a convenient user experience through clean design. “In an industry in which selling data and delivering ads en masse are the norm, we choose to lead with privacy instead and put user satisfaction front and centre. “Xayn is the search and discovery engine that does not force users to make any compromises – not with the quality of their online experience and search results and certainly not with the privacy of their personal data. Xayn helps you discover your favourite part of the internet.” Earlybird Venture Capital previously led the company’s $7m seed round in 2018, the year after it won carmaker Porsche’s Blockchain Innovation Contest. Xayn said it had now raised about $23m altogether.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).